The two of you walked towards the door and you watched as Kankri was doing some dishes in the kitchen. You might as well let him know where you're going. "Hey Kankri, Kanaya and I are heading out."
"Alright, but be back within a reasonable hour for bath night." Your brother spoke with a small smile and a turn to his head to look at the both of you. His injured eye was looking better swelling wise, but the color still is hard to not stare at. You look away from the sight, giving a nod and pulling a stunned Kanaya out of your hive.
The two of you walked side by side on the worn pavement a bit in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, but it wasn't clearing the nervousness you sense around your best friend's presence. You could feel the fresh wounds under both black sleeves of the sweater, stinging because of the casual movement of your arms. It's going to be a painful reminder of what you've done to yourself and what you're doing to the troll who's looked after you since hatching.
"Karkat, I have a question." The jade blood said as she glanced over to make quick eye contact.
Did she already figure out? Is she going to yell and cause a scene at this book club? You were practically sweating bullets, and it wasn't just because you're wearing a dark sweater in the late of summer. "Yeah?"
Her eyebrows knitted together before proceeding, "What in alternia's name happened to your dear brother? That eye of his was so... No offense to Kankri... Horrid!" Her arms crossed against her chest, as if she was angry at the beings that had caused it. Little does she know, that was exactly the case.
"I don't know the full details, but I guess Kankri had been attacked by a radical rioter while he was helping dad out at the church the other day." You might as well tell her some truth today, so you continued. "He also said something about a rebellion, and that I'm not suppose to ask questions?"
"If your brother is speaking of rebellion, then this information is coming from your father. Kankri is as radicalized as any other troll that believes in what they're taught to believe." Kanaya looked ahead at a pair of rust bloods walking on the other side of the sidewalk and sighed. Her voice lowered as she scooted closer to me. "This must be serious business, and if Kankri doesn't want you involved yet, then I suggest you stay where you are. I don't want you going out and getting into trouble."
A sinking feeling overwhelmed you as she finished, and you couldn't even bother looking at her strait anymore. What you've done with Vriska and Sollux, was terribly stupid. You guys literally blew up an important building and possibly left humans to burn in said building. Again, what the fuck were you thinking?
You kept quiet as Kanaya lead you down to an old corner store. The building was one out of clusters that were alike to the eye, and there was a slight extension to the roof, most likely to block rain and other bad weather. Flowers were planted in pots right under the one small window that a curtain was blocking from seeing inside, it seemed like a nice set up for a low blooded community. There was a little chalk stand that caught your eyes, reading, 'Welcome to The Literature Club! Host: Kanaya Maryam. Free Catering to appetites alike!' and the worst part was that the door was wide open.
With only a glance inside, your anxiety was on edge. A mixture of trolls were already conversing with one another, talking, laughing, and mingling. The vibe was a bit carefree, but the most surprising detail about it, was the diversity amongst every troll. You looked towards Kanaya and wandered how she even set this all up in a short amount of time, even dealing with the head council just to get this far. Your moirail gave a soft smile as she lead you into the establishment.
There were many small chairs that formed a circle, reminding you of some sort of confession cult ring, but you thankfully took a quick seat to ease the spinning sensation in the room. Taking a slow breath, you scanned the room full of unrecognisable trolls. Kanaya had said something to you, but you hadn't processed what it was as she left you sitting by yourself and staring at strangers. You blankly watched as the only troll you knew made her way into a, now, group conversation and safely execute her socially charming expressions. The way she could just jump in and introduce herself with much confidence and friendliness made you very insecure about your own abilities, if you had any to begin with. You decided to weigh your options and take in the crowd with awkwardly extended stares, what could go wrong with that?
Over to your left was a long table with many trays of sweets and baked goods that looked amazingly delicious, but there was three unidentified residents there and you were wanting to ignore every asshole in here. That group consisted of two rust bloods, one with decapitated legs in a depreciating sad wheel-device, the other that consisted of wearing animal bones with streaks of red dye in what's left of his mohawk, and an olive blood with chin-length hair that seemed to be stuffing themselves with food.
To the left, Kanaya was chatting it up with a maroon blood that was facing back to your vision and had a tray from the treats table, offering it to her and another emerald blood.
"Hey, KK." You jumped and quickly looked up at Sollux. He gave a small snicker before taking a seat beside you with an eyebrow raised. "Wow, you're jumpy."
"Shut up! I forgot that I invited you here in the first place." Crossing your arms in front of your chest, you slowly shook your head. "How did you find out the location?"
The yellow blood gave a shrug, leaning back onto the chair and looking around. "I had to get ahold of Kanaya on pethterchum, thince you didn't. Now I'm here to pay my dept."
"Oh." You had totally forgotten about informing Sollux, but with all that happened since last night, you really couldn't give a shit if he went or not. The tasks you've done wasn't quite worth what you wanted from him, leaving you empty handed and broken minded. At least you weren't the only one hiding what you did, the little cuts on his face and hands practically scream explosion.
After a few minutes of silence, "Do you want to raid the food for me?" A smile formed on his lips as he batted his eyes in a pleading way, only for him to receive an eye roll in return.
"Fine, lazy ass."
You got to your feet as you looked back to glare at the yellow blood, which smirked at you with dominance. As you returned your gaze, you were caught off guard and slammed into someone that was standing in front of you. A tray of cookies flew everywhere, and everything including you, came crashing down on top of them. Your mouth opened to throw some profanities their way, but you stopped in your tracks as you took in their appearance.
The female trollian was obviously caught off guard as she gasped and made wide eye contact with you from above. She moved some long black hair from her face, the strands flowing from her scalp like a halo of silkiness onto the floor. The purse of her red painted lips, reflected light that reminded you of a wild spark yet to catch flame. What distracted you the most, was her eyes. They both glistened with surprise and shock, but the overall bright red of her irises could be the definition of beauty itself. "Oh- I'm so, so sorry!" Her voice squeaked, snapping you back to the reality of laying and drooling over this poor troll-girl as glances watched.
"F-Fuck-" Your face immediately caught fire as you scrambled to your feet and began helping her up as well. "No, you should be s-sorry! Wait... No- I mean I should be sorry! I'm really clumsy and fuck up all the time. Like trip and fall and stuff. N-Not that I did this on purpose or anything! I- I uh..."
A frustrated sigh escaped your throat as embarrassment settled in full force. If someone could shoot you right now, it would make you the happiest trollian for at least a split second. You're stuttering like an idiot and can't even get a clear sentence out in front of her, what the hell is going on with you? When you gathered up the courage to face her again, to your surprise she was giving a full hearted laugh as she smoothed out her bunched up skirt. "It's okay, really. Everyone makes mistakes, including me!"
"Heh, yeah..." You watched the red blood bend down to collect the now uneatable cookies off the floor, and you followed pursuit since it was your mess to clean up to begin with.
"By the way, my name is Aradia. It's strange that I've never seen you around town before." The now named Aradia gazed up at you and smiled, but the heat on your cheeks continued to grow.
"Karkat, and that's probably because I'm an arrogant nobody that stays in his hive all day, with the exception of attending sermons from his holy father which he never see anymore." That large slice of truthfulness earned you another laugh from Aradia, but you weren't kidding about any of that. With a shrug of your shoulders, you lifted the tray of a largely wasted amount of cookie crumbles. "Also, I feel like more of a shitty troll about knocking you over."
Shaking her head, she took the tray from you. "Don't feel bad, you'll make me feel bad! Let's just say, you owe me a batch of cookies. Deal?"
You gawked a bit at her response, and couldn't tell if this was a joke or not. The unhealthy image of you successfully making something that didn't burn was farfetched, and obviously you two are strangers and know nothing of each other's abilities. Without over thinking about it further, you gave a nod. "Deal."
"Good, but the club will be starting soon so take a seat. I'm going to take these around back for the strays to munch on. I can't wait to hear what you've brought in for everyone!" As she finished her sentence, her heels turned the opposite way and swished her long hair around with a quick motion.
What you didn't realize until now, is that this is a literature club and that means writing. You have absolutely nothing to present to all these trollians that gathered here today, making you the most unprepared in the room. Having no idea how to get yourself out of this situation, since there's a troll expecting at least something out of you, there's only one thing to do.
Karkat Vantas needs to find motivation, quickly.